Multipurpose garden tool

ABSTRACT

A multipurpose garden tool and method for indoor or outdoor gardening, planting, and soil working. The tool and method incorporate the capabilities of loosening, working, furrowing, trenching, digging, removing, and replacing soil; of setting and removing plants; of weeding; of scraping, emptying, or cleaning planters, pots, and other gardening containers, especially those having tight corners; and of cutting and removing plant roots and other obstacles found in or around soil. Preferred embodiments of the tool aspect of the invention provide a generally dished blade with a highly curved, offset pointed tip for loosening and furrowing soil. Serrated blade edges for cutting of roots and other obstacles or debris are optionally provided. The method includes a procedure for loosening, furrowing, digging, and excavating soil with a single tool.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the field of hand held garden or horticulturaltools; more particularly, it relates to method and apparatus for workingand digging soil.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For centuries people have worked the soil. Thousands of years agosociety began to cultivate plants for food, and civilizations began togrow. The nomadic ways of prehistory died off, and permanent settlementsbecame the norm. As society prospered, people began to plant for beautyas well as sustenance; the art of ornamental gardening was born.

At first, tools were of the rudest quality: mere sticks dragged upon theground served for plows; digging was accomplished by hand and with thesimplest of implements. And even as development occurred, as bladedshovels and spades took shape and hoes were born, as shears were devisedand plows developed, always each tool had but a single job: the shoveland the spade to replace the hands in digging; the hoe and the plow totake the place of sticks for furrowing and breaking the soil; shears,saws, and clippers to take up cutting. Thus one who worked the soilneeded constantly at hand a variety of instruments: for farming, a plow,a harvester, a shovel, a scythe, a baler, a pitchfork; for gardening, ashovel, a rake, a spade, a trowel, a hoe, a pair of clippers, andoccasionally a saw or knife.

Development has been slow. Even today, with the integration of gasolineengines and electric motors, it is the rule that one tool performs onejob; and the job that tool does has been done in essentially the sameway by essentially identical tools for many hundreds of years. At most,the tool differs from its forebears only in its source of power:tractors tow plows essentially identical to those of ancient times;hedge clippers work in essentially the same fashion as hand held models;even backhoes provide lend mere power to the digging of shovel blades orhoes. And so today, thousands of years since the beginnings of planthusbandry, people work still the same basic implements, one implement ata time, and take with them each time upon setting out to the field anarray of earth working tools.

Thus even an endeavor as old as horticulture holds great room forimprovement. To relieve the gardener, the landscaper, or the farmer ofthe need to carry with him even one tool must be a boon; to save theeffort of porting two or three would be truly wonderful. And to do so atlow cost, through the provision of a simple, strong, elegant, anddurable implement is innovation.

What is needed in the area of hand tools for gardening is a single toolto loosen, dig, and furrow soil, to weed or plant effectively andefficiently with just one instrument, to remove, replace, and cultivateplants without need of a box full of implements, and all preferably witha single hand.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a single gardentool capable of performing many or all of the tasks faced by thegardener, the landscaper, or the planter.

It is a further object of the invention to provide in one instrument atool for loosening, working, furrowing, trenching, digging, removing,and replacing soil; for setting or removing indoor or outdoor plants;for weeding; for scraping, emptying, or cleaning planters, pots, andother gardening containers, especially those having tight corners; andfor cutting roots or other objects.

It is another object of the invention to provide a hand held garden toolwhich will act as an extension of the hand, allowing the tool to performmany tasks while reducing bending stresses in the user's wrist.

It is another object of the invention to provide a blade for a gardentool which will allow the tool to be used for the setting and removal ofbulbs and other plants without damaging the bulbs and plants.

It is another object of the invention to provide a tool capable ofperforming all of the above tasks without the necessity of the usershifting his or her grip upon the handle of the tool.

It is another object of the invention to provide a long lasting,durable, and reliable tool of the type described.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method of performingany or all of the above tasks with a single tool.

It is another object of the invention to provide the above describedtool or tools at modest cost.

It is another object of the invention to provide tools of the typedescribed above which do not require routine or complex maintenance.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a tool with agenerally dished region and a curved pointed tip, with the tipprojecting generally up and out of the dished region.

It is another object of the invention to provide a tool with serratededge regions.

It is yet another object of the invention to meet any or all of theneeds summarized above.

These and such other objects of the invention as will become evidentfrom the disclosure below are met by the invention disclosed herein.

The invention addresses these needs and provides such a system. Theinvention represents a new versatility in garden or field working, andin garden or field working tools; the invention reduces the number andweight of tools required to perform most if not all of the tasks ofgardening or horticulture and to accomplish all the essentials of planthusbandry.

The invention provides a multipurpose garden tool and a method forindoor or outdoor gardening, planting, and soil working. The tool andmethod incorporate the capabilities of loosening, working, furrowing,trenching, digging, removing, and replacing soil; of setting andremoving plants; of weeding; of scraping, emptying, or cleaningplanters, pots, and other gardening containers, especially those havingtight corners; and of cutting and removing plant roots and otherobstacles found in or around soil. The method includes a procedure forloosening, furrowing, digging, and excavating soil with a single tool.

In a tool aspect of the invention, one embodiment is a blade for agarden tool with a generally dished region and a pointed tip. Thepointed tip has a tip point, and the blade has a grip axis. The tippreferably is highly curved and dished itself, and the tip point isoffset from the grip axis by an offset distance. This offset distance issometimes also called the clearance distance. Preferred embodiments ofthe blade are adapted to engage a handle at a handle end of the bladeopposite from the tip point, and have at least one serrated edge regionadjacent to the tip.

In some embodiments, the pointed tip is dished to such an extent that,when the tool is held with the grip axis substantially verticallyaligned and the handle end is held upward, the tip cradles soil.

By referring to the blade as dished, or to a dished region, it is meantthat the blade, at least in some portion thereof, is generally spoonshaped, or that the region includes a concavity, or a relatively dishedor bowled portion. The dished region is generally located within thecentral portion of the blade between the handle end and the tip; inpreferred embodiments, the concavity is generally bounded by relativelycurved or raised edges.

The tool blade of the invention preferably has a pointed tip and thepoint thereof is referred to as the tip point. The tip is preferablymore highly curved than the dished region of the blade, and the tippreferably has its own dish characteristics independent of the dishedregion of the blade.

Another tool embodiment of the invention is also a blade for a gardentool. The blade has a generally dished region, and the dished region hasa tip, a periphery and a base point. The periphery has a tip point onthe tip, and the base point lies at an end of the dished regiongenerally opposite the tip point. In this embodiment, a substantialportion of the periphery lies below a tool reference plane passingthrough the tip point and the base point. This embodiment preferablyalso has a handle end at an end of the blade opposite from the tippoint, and the handle end is particularly adapted to engage a handle.Preferably, the base point does not lie anywhere on the handle end.

In distinguishing the invention from other garden tools, it is useful torefer to the periphery of the dished region; the periphery generallybeing the more or less continuous edge or sum of edges of all of theedges of the dished region, generally not including any portion of ahandle end of the blade. The periphery has a tip point which isgenerally the same point as the tip point of the blade tip. A handle endon a blade may preferably be adapted for engaging a handle to be fittedto the blade as described; however, the handle end of the blade is alsoany structural portion of the blade that is either particularly adaptedto receive and engage a handle, or that is not particularly part of thedished region of the blade, such as by having no particular curvature ofits own, or no curvature that was part of a curvature of the dishedregion. The blade also has a base point for defining a tool referenceplane, and the base point may be thought of as the point on the bladefurthest from the tip point without venturing onto the handle end.

Another embodiment of the invention is a method of gardening with thefollowing the steps:

(a) one drives a tipped hand tool downwardly into some soil;

(b) one then pulls the tool through the soil toward oneself to furrowthe soil, in such a way that one is not required to make a change ofgrip or to make any realignment of a grip axis of the tool.

The step of pulling the tool through the soil may best be accomplishedby pulling the tool toward the tool user in a direction along the gripaxis. By way of illustration, it may readily be appreciated that a pulltoward the user along the grip axis of a conventional trowel would be auseless action. The method may also have the step of employing a sawingmotion with the tool to cut through roots or debris in the soil. Tofurrow some soil is to leave a furrow in it or alternatively to leave anelongate hole in the soil. As a user pulls the tool through the soil,having already gripped the tool with the hand to drive it into the soil,the user preferably does not have to change hand grip position or handorientation on the grip or handle of the tool, and the grip axis of thetool does not have to be changed substantially, as for example it wouldhave to be changed if the tool were a conventional trowel. With atrowel, the driving motion would be a stabbing kind of motion into thesoil, and the grip would be a stabbing grip. Furrowing with the trowelwould then require both a change in hand grip and also a change in gripaxis orientation (from near vertical to rather horizontal), and thefurrowing then would still be push rather than a pull. Holding thetrowel so as not to require such changes, would only allow a thrust awaykind of driving into the soil, almost horizontal.

In as much as it is generally to be expected that the tool will be heldin a user's hand, the tool in preferred embodiments provides a handle orgrip for the convenience of the user in handling or using the tool. Thehandle or grip is most usually located at an end of the blade oppositethe tip; and, being of otherwise generally common configuration, thehandle or grip serves to define, by means of the centers of itsaggregated cross sections, an axis which might be referred to as thegrip axis. For example, in embodiments provided with a straight, more orless conical or cylindrical handle or grip, such as might be found on acommon trowel, the grip axis is identified as the axis running throughthe more or less circular cross sections of the handle; that is, downthe center of the grip. It is this grip axis from which the tip of theinvention, or a point provided on the tip, is offset.

"Offset," as used in this disclosure, means that the tip or the point ofthe blade is curved or deflected upward (colloquially, one might saythat the tip or point was "bent" up or upward), out of the grip axis andaway from the body of the blade. That is, if one were, for example, totake a common table spoon and bend the tip upward ("up" or "upward" inthis sense meaning generally upward in the vertical direction when thetool or spoon is held upright in such a position that water would remainwithin its bowl or concavity) so that the tip passed out of the gripaxis, the tip would be offset.

The distance by which the tip or the point of any particular embodimentof the invention is offset with respect to the grip axis depends uponthe use to which the particular embodiment is to be put. Generally, theoffset distance is at least that distance required to permit the user todrag the point of the tool along the ground in the direction of the gripaxis, with the grip axis more or less parallel to the ground, withoutinterference from any other portion of the tool or from the user's hand:that is, the tip or the point is generally minimally offset from thegrip axis by a distance sufficient to clear the user's hand and allparts of the tool other than the tip or the point from interference withthe ground when the point is drawn along the ground in the direction ofthe grip axis, with the grip axis being held more or less parallel tothe ground. Such a minimal distance or offset is referred to as aclearance distance.

For embodiments of the invention intended for general indoor or outdoorgarden or indoor use, the preferred offset, or clearance distance, isthat offset great enough to allow the tool to be used for loosening soilwith the tip or point, and for furrowing or scraping the soil with thetip or point, without interference from the remainder of the tool, orfrom the hand of the user, with the ground.

Another aspect of the invention is a blade for a garden tool, also witha generally dished (or spoon shaped) region and a pointed tip, and withthe pointed tip projecting generally up and out of the dished region.The blade has a periphery on the dished region, and the peripheryoptionally has at least one serrated, or toothed, edge region.

Yet another aspect of the invention is a blade for a garden tool, andthe blade has a region of curvature along its length for a substantialportion of the length and a region of curvature along its width for asubstantial portion of the width, with the regions of curvature in theblade thereby forming a dished region. The dished region has edges and aperiphery defined by its edges, and the periphery is scalloped along theblade's length, and preferably proximate a center of the blade's length.

Another way of describing the shape of the dished region of the blade isto say that its curvature is comprised of regions of curvature alongsubstantial portions of the blade's length and width. Substantialportions are generally percentages of length or width greater than about10% up to 100%, and preferably between 30% and 100%. Generally, onlycurvatures that are only incidental to junctures of surfaces, such asfillets between adjoining plates, are to be preferably precluded fromconsideration as regions of curvature.

To describe the periphery as scalloped is to say, in one sense, cut away(thought there may have been no actual cutting away of the periphery);scalloped means having a scallop or one or more indentations or flutesin the periphery itself. One or more scallop indentations are preferablyto be found on the periphery, along the length of the blade; with atleast one scallop proximate, that is overlapping or near, the center ofthe blade's length (as projected out onto the periphery). One measure ofthe degree to which the periphery is scalloped is the extent to whichwater can fill substantially the entire dished region. A preferreddegree of scalloping is that extent whereby water can not fillsubstantially the entire dished region, when the dished region is heldupward; that is the water runs out the scalloped openings in theperiphery before the water can run over the periphery itself.Optionally, the periphery is scalloped to an extent whereby, when theblade is laid inverted on a flat surface, more than an insubstantialspace between the periphery in the scallop and the flat surface can beseen.

In many embodiments of the invention the tip of the blade is dished,sometimes independently of the shape of the remainder of the blade. Thatis, the tip itself is dish or bowl shaped, without regard to thegeometry of the rest of the tool, so that it includes a concavity, or arelatively dished or bowled portion, generally located within thecentral portion of the tip, which is bounded by relatively curved orraised edges. In preferred embodiments of the invention the tip isdished such that when the tool is held with the grip axis substantiallyaligned with the vertical, and the handle up, the tip itself would hold,support, or "cradle," soil, so that such soil might, for example, belifted out of a relatively small or narrow excavation by holding thetool in the manner just described and lifting it upward out of the hole.This aspect of the invention allows, among other things, for the diggingof especially deep yet narrow holes, providing a relatively "clean" (orsmooth sided) hole for planting, and the like.

In those embodiments of the tool aspect of the invention having handlesor grips, the grip or handle may be provided as an integral part of ahandle end of the blade or in other conventional or nonconventionalmanner. In most cases, the handle will be provided at the handle end ofthe blade generally opposite the tip, as is common with conventionalgarden tools. In many embodiments of the invention, the handle is shortenough to allow the tool to be easily or comfortably manipulated, in theperformance of most or many of the tasks described, with the use of asingle hand. Other embodiments provide longer handles, so as to allowthe tool to be worked with both hands, often with the hands spreadsufficiently far to allow the user to apply a reasonable amount ofleverage on the tool.

Generally preferred embodiments of the tool aspect of the invention alsoprovide one or more serrated regions along the edge of the blade, mostoften along the edge of the blade adjacent to the tip. These serratededge regions are used for cutting or otherwise loosening or removing theobstacles or debris commonly encountered in or about the garden or thesoil, such as roots, embedded sticks, small rocks, or hard pan or claysoil.

Another aspect of the invention is the provision of a complete gardentool consisting of a handle and a blade, the blade having an offsetpointed tip and a scoop portion. In this aspect the handle is fixed toor made integral with the blade in conventional or nonconventionalfashion, and is adapted so that the user may perform a variety of tasks,such as driving the tip point downward into the soil to loosen it,furrowing, or otherwise excavating the soil by dragging the tool backtoward the user by the handle, and scooping soil out of the furrow orexcavation, generally by thrusting the side of the blade into or underthe loosened soil, all without the user having to shift his or her gripon the handle.

Preferred embodiments of this aspect of the invention generally comprisean otherwise conventional, substantially straight handle fixed to oneend of the blade adjacent to a generally dished, bowled, concave, orspoon shaped scoop portion of the blade, and, at an opposite end of theblade from the handle, an offset pointed tip, the offset of the pointedtip being described generally in the same terms already set forth above.Such a configuration of the tool lends itself readily to the continuous,comfortable, convenient, and repetitious use of the tool for loosening,furrowing or otherwise digging or excavating, cradling soil from deep ornarrow holes, and removing the soil in the manner described merely bygripping or grasping the tool by the handle, in the case of a straighthandled embodiment of the invention, with the fingers wrapped around thehandle in such a fashion as to leave the blade of the tool extendingfrom the handle on the side of the grip nearest the tip of the thumb,and, holding the tool inverted in such fashion ("inverted" meaning theopposite of upward as described above), thrusting the tool tip down intothe soil, and loosening the soil, working the tool front and back,sideways, or up and down, if needed, to do so; furrowing the soil, ifneed be, by pulling the tool back toward the user along the axis of thehandle (the grip axis previously defined), and scooping soil into thescoop portion of the blade by thrusting the blade sideways into or underthe soil. It is readily seen that the tool described lends itself touse, when gripped in such fashion, without the necessity of the usershifting his or her grip on the handle between the described steps, aswould be required with conventional spades or garden tools.

Provision of the blade of this aspect of the invention with a serratededge region would permit direct extension of the use of the tool to thesawing or cutting of roots or other obstacles or debris encountered whenworking soil: the user would merely alternately thrust the tool forwardand pull it back toward himself or herself, while holding the tool aspreviously described, with the serrated edge region held against theroot or other obstacle, so that the serrations would saw through, snag,or otherwise abrade or pull the obstacle until it was severed orotherwise loosened for removal. It may be readily seen that such sawingoperations could be performed, like the loosening, furrowing, andscooping operations described above, without the necessity of the usershifting his or her grip upon the handle.

A further aspect of the invention lies in the use of a tipped handgarden tool in the manner generally described: by thrusting the tip ofthe tool downwardly into soil, and working it back and forth, sideways,or up and down, if necessary, to loosen the soil; pulling the tool backtoward the user along the grip axis to furrow the soil, and scoopingsoil from the furrow or other excavation thus made to remove it.Generally, the furrowing portion of the method would be accomplished byholding the tool in the manner described above and pulling it toward thebody of the user along the grip axis of the handle.

Likewise, the method may optionally be extended to include sawingthrough or otherwise loosening or removing roots or other obstacles inthe manner described, by engaging an (optionally serrated) edge of thetool against the root or obstacle and alternately thrusting the toolforward and drawing it back against the root until it was severed orotherwise snagged or loosened.

It is readily seen that any or all of the above aspects of the inventionmight be employed equally well indoors or out, in fields, foragricultural or other horticultural purposes, or in smaller indoor oroutdoor gardens, and with garden, field or potted plants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the invention ininverted position for scraping or furrowing soil.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views of preferred and alternate embodiments ofthe tip portion of the invention.

FIG. 5 and 6 are side views of handles for the invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross section through line 8--8 of FIG. 1 of a base portionof the blade of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective side view of an alternative method of describinga preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross section through line 9--9 of FIG. 8 of a curvedsection of the blade of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a side vie preferred method of using the invention.

FIG. 11 is a set a-c of side views of an aspect of the invention.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings, the invention will be described in apreferred embodiment by reference to the numerals of the drawing figureswherein like numbers indicate like parts.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Gardentool 10 comprises handle 11 and blade 12. Blade 12 further comprisespointed tip 15, which has a tip point 30. Handle 11 engages blade 12 atspecially adapted handle end 13 of blade 12, at the opposite end fromtip 15. Handle end 13 may comprise any combination of materials orshapes including special tapers or other shapings of one end of blade 12itself, which are aptly adapted, as will be appreciated by those skilledin the art, for engaging a conventional handle 11 to blade 12.

Serrated (or toothed) regions 16 are disposed at the edges of blade 12preferably adjacent to tip 15. Blade 12 further comprises generallydished or bowled region 14, which may also herein be referred to as thescoop portion. Handle or grip 11 may or may not comprise a separatededicated handle piece or assembly, but handle 11 and/or handle end 13generally serve to define grip axis G, which runs more or less along thecenter of handle or grip 11 and handle end 13, and therefore defines thedirection in which pulling or pushing forces are generally applied whenthe tool is used, as shown in FIG. 2, in a tip down, or "inverted", toolattitude so as to furrow soil. As may be seen in FIG. 2, handle 11 issubstantially concentric with grip axis G.

Also as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, blade 12 and scoop portion 14 aresufficiently large and sufficiently spoon shaped to allow the scoopingof substantial portions of soil after the soil has been loosened orotherwise prepared for removal. The size of blade 12 will depend uponthe application to which the tool is put, and upon the size of thefurrow, hole, or other excavation the tool is employed to make. Forexample, it will occur to the skilled designer of garden tools to make arelatively larger tool, according to the invention, for the purpose ofsetting medium to large sized plants than for digging narrow furrows forthe planting of seeds. Other particular blade or scoop sizes for a givenapplication will also occur to those skilled in the art.

As shown in FIG. 2, tip portion 15 is generally disposed at the oppositeend of blade 12 from handle 11, and in generally preferred embodimentstip 15 is substantially offset from scoop portion 14 of blade 12. Thatis, tip 15 is offset by an offset distance, and in preferred embodimentsangled up, or out, and away from scoop portion 14, in such a manner asto allow point 30 and tip 15 to both furrow soil without interferencefrom scoop portion 14 or other portions of blade 12 or the tool, or fromthe hand of the tool user, when the tip is pulled through the soil bythe tool user along grip axis G, whenever grip axis G is parallel to theground (horizontal). Tip 15 is also angled and offset from scoop portion14 to pierce the surface of the ground when the tool is driven pointdown into soil and to sink point 30 to a working depth in the soil,without tool 10 being stopped or impeded by scoop portion 14 or otherportions of blade 12 or of the tool, or by the hand and knuckles of theuser. The offset distance referred to is shown in FIG. 2 as clearancedistance A, the distance between grip axis G in inverted tool 10 andground surface 31.

A working depth to which tip point 30 is to sink is that depth whichwill allow the user of the tool to make effective use of the tool inloosening the soil into which the tip is driven, and thus would dependupon the quality of the soil and the purpose of the particular use. Inloosening very hard packed, fine soil or clay, for example, a relativelyshallow penetration of the tip (of the order of perhaps 1/2 to 2 inches)would generally suffice, whereas for looser, more extensively clodded ormoist soil penetrations would generally run deeper--more along the orderof 1 to 3 inches. Because the depth to which point 30 will be expectedto penetrate soil will generally be somewhat smaller than the offsetrequired to achieve it, due to the desirability of leaving a reasonableclearance between soil surface 31 and the lowest extremity of the toolor the user's hand, clearance distance A will therefore generally varyfrom approximately 1 to 4 inches, depending upon the size of the tooland the particular application to which it is put.

Clearance distance A may be varied, short of causing interference withthe function of the tool for the purposes described. In general,particular values of the clearance distance will depend upon the qualityof the soil worked, the object of the working of the soil (e.g.planting, furrowing, digging, removing plants, weeding, loosening thesoil), and the strength and skill of the user. It has been found thatfor typical indoor or outdoor gardening applications, good results havebeen achieved with an clearance distance of 21/2 to 4 inches in a toolhaving an overall length of 10 to 16 inches. In particular, a toolapproximately 12 inches long and having a clearance distance ofapproximately 21/2 inches has performed very well for general indoor andoutdoor gardening. Preferably then, point 30 is offset from the body ofblade 12 to allow the furrowing and digging actions described, and anygeometry which will permit those actions will generally suffice.

Aside from being substantially offset from blade 12, tip 15 may beshaped according to its immediate intended purpose. For tools intendedfor narrow furrowing or picking at hard pan or other packed or difficultsoil, the tip may be sharply pointed, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Forworking of looser soil, surface scraping, or the digging of broaderfurrows, the tip may come to a more rounded point, as shown in FIG. 4. Asharply pointed tip of the type shown in FIG. 3, having an angle C ofapproximately 30 to 60 degrees, has been found to give good results foran embodiment of the invention intended for general indoor or outdoorgarden use.

Serrated regions 16 may in some embodiments be located on one or bothedges of blade 12, between tip 15 and handle end 13 or handle 11, asshown in FIG. 1. In generally preferred embodiments, serrations areprovided adjacent to tip 15, in order to facilitate sawing of roots orother debris while digging. The selection of a particular cuttinggeometry for the serrations themselves will occur to the skilled tooldesigner; serrations may take any of a great variety of shapes,including those of the common wood saws.

Handle or grip 11, where provided, may be of any suitable type, many ofwhich are conventional. Preferred embodiments employ straight, ferruledhandles, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but they may alternatively be of theclosed grip type depicted in FIG. 5, or any type permitting either theapplication of pushing or pulling forces along grip axis G, or hammerstyle swinging of the tool so that tip 15 and/or point 30 may be driveninto the ground with the direction of applied striking force on the soilperpendicular or substantially normal to the ground as shown in FIG. 2,while permitting scooping of soil without the necessity of substantiallyshifting the grip of the user upon the tool. Custom grips like thoseshown in FIG. 6 may also be provided. Moreover, a handle or grip may beattached to the blade in any suitable fashion, such as by riveting,gluing, bolting, or the like, or it may be provided as an integralportion of the blade itself. Selection of suitable handle or gripdesigns will occur to the skilled garden tool designer. Materialsemployed for handle 11 are also conventional.

In FIG. 8, a tool reference plane 40 is illustrated intersecting blade12 and passing through tip point 30 and base point 35. Base point 35lies at the end of dished region 14, generally opposite tip point 30.Tip point 30 lies on periphery 18 of blade 12, at the apex of pointedtip 15. Periphery 18 is defined generally by the sum of the exposededges of blade 12, including tip 15, but not including any part ofhandle end 13. Base point 35 also does not lie on any part of handle end13; rather, base point 35 may be thought of as the point on blade 12furthest from tip point 30, without venturing onto handle end 13. Basepoint 35 will generally not be on periphery 18, but will generallyappear on a line roughly bisecting blade 12 from tip to handle, andrather below the periphery, though small variations in positioning anddefining a base point will not greatly influence the definition or usageof the tool reference plane. Where periphery 18 is unbroken orcontinuous around the entire edge of blase 12, and no part of theperiphery is subsumed into handle end 13, then base point 35 can befound on periphery 18.

The orientation of reference plane 40 to blade 12 is important fordefining certain novel characteristics of the invention; however it willappear that reference plane 40 does not itself play any part in thefunctionality of the invention. It serves rather as a point (or plane inthis case) of reference, from which to view the invention and appreciatesome of its novel aspects. After locating tip point 30 and base point 35and passing a plane through them (so that the plane, edge on, appears asillustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9), the plane is tilted relative to blade 12(or blade 12 is "swung", as if rotatably mounted on an imaginary axlepassing through tip point 30 and base point 35, so that it "hangs"freely beneath the plane) so that a line produced from the center ofmass of blade 12 to perpendicularly intersect the line segment definedby tip point 30 and base point 35 will also be perpendicular to theplane (as illustrated in FIG. 9). The plane then becomes reference plane40.

The words "below" and "beneath" and "under", when employed in thecontext of reference plane 40 and blade 12, generally refer to that sideof reference plane 40 on which the center of mass of blade 12 lies.Thus, for example in FIG. 8, with the figure oriented to read thenumerals in their upright positions, blade 12 lies predominantly below,beneath and under reference plane 40. In addition, in FIG. 8 it may beseen that a substantial portion of periphery 18 running between tippoint 30 to a location just above base point 35 long both edges of blade12 lies below tool reference plane 40.

In preferred embodiments generally having between 12 and 18 inches ofperiphery, a substantial portion of the periphery such as approximately70% (roughly 8.5 to 13.5 inches) of periphery 18 will lie below toolreference plane 40. Embodiments with very little periphery below areference plane, as defined above, can be made to serve, as well as canembodiments exceeding 70%, up to 100%, but it is believed that a rangeof between 30% and 80% is best employed. In preferred embodiments withsmoothly dished blades having overall blade lengths in the 7 to 10 inchrange, the amount by which periphery 18 drops at maximum below referenceplane 40 will be in the range of 1 to 2 inches. Again, embodiments withmaximum periphery drop values above or below this range can be made toserve, but tool efficiency is believed to decrease sharply withperiphery drops greater than 2 inches in the stated blade length range(requiring as it would a relatively shallower, less dished, blade at thepoint of maximum drop), as well as with peripheries dropping a merefraction of a centimeter below the plane. Nonetheless, it is believedthat all such variations in periphery drop below the plane, and inlength or percentage of periphery below the plane, fall within themeaning of substantial portion of the periphery and therefore within thescope of the invention.

FIG. 10 depicts a preferred embodiment of the invention 10 being used tocradle soil from a relatively deep, narrow hole 50. Tip portion 15 ofblade 12 is sufficiently dished itself to allow tip 15, when tool 10 isheld with grip axis G substantially vertically aligned and grip orhandle 11 uppermost, to hold or cradle soil, so that the soil may beextracted from hole 50. It will be understood immediately that the exactgeometry, or the extent of required dishing, of tip 15 for the purposeof cradling soil in this manner will depend upon the nature of the soiland the type of excavation a particular embodiment of the tool isintended to make. For example, less dishing will be required for removalof damp soil, or soil otherwise cohesive or disposed to cling, than forthe removal of loose or sandy soil. A preferred embodiment of theinvention intended for general indoor or outdoor garden use withmoderately solid, cohesive soil, employs a radius of curvature R (asshown in FIG. 2) of from approximately one to approximately four inchesswept through an arc of approximately 30 to approximately 100 degrees(that is, giving a spherical section of approximately 1/8th or more) togive a satisfactory dishing, together with a tip width cross sectionalcurvature of from approximately two to approximately three inches inradius.

In FIG. 11, variations on scalloping and blade shape are illustrated inviews (a)-(c). In view (a) multiple scallops 46 on one side of periphery18 along the blade length are shown. In views (b) and (c) singlescallops 46 are shown in inverted tools 10. The blades 12 of tools 10are inverted onto flat surface 60, so that there is a space D betweenperiphery 18 and surface 60 at a mid point of scallop 46. Space D ispreferably in the range of approximately one half to one and one halfinches or so; however, D may have smaller or greater dimensions, rangingfrom a millimeter or two to more than two inches, depending on the sizeof the tool overall, on the number and configuration of scallops, and onthe intended optimized purpose of the tool. Any of these dimensions forD may be regarded as more than an insubstantial space between theperiphery in the scallop and the flat surface.

The blade aspect of the invention may be fashioned of any material ofsufficient formability, resilience, durability, toughness, strength,flexibility, and corrosion resistance to suit the purpose or purposes ofpicking, furrowing, plowing, digging, and/or tunnelling various soils inany given climate and condition. Steels and other metals have been usedin preferred embodiments. Stainless steel in particular has provensatisfactory; particularly, for embodiments designed for general indoorand outdoor gardening and planting, 18 gauge #430 bright annealedstainless steel.

However, many plastics or other synthetic materials will also serve, aswill be appreciated by those skilled in the art; even wood might befashioned to serve. Depending upon the material selected, geometricfactors may be exploited to tailor the strength, stiffness, anddurability of the tool to any purpose. As an example, the provision of aU section through handle end 13 of blade 12, as shown in FIG. 7, wouldincrease the bending stiffness and strength of the handle or baseportions of the tool. Likewise, the tool (particularly the blade of thetool) may be formed by any suitable method, such as stamping, rolling,die cutting or stamping, or even forging.

With regard to aspects and components above referred to, but nototherwise specified or described in detail herein, the workings andspecifications of such aspects and components and the manner in whichthey may be made or assembled or used, both cooperatively with eachother and with the other elements of the invention described herein toeffect the purposes herein disclosed, are all believed to be well withinthe knowledge of those skilled in the art. No concerted attempt torepeat here what is generally known to the artisan has therefore beenmade.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The invention has applicability in the amateur and professional orcommercial fields of horticulture, agriculture, and gardening. Itgreatly eases the burden of the gardener, planter, or soil worker byreducing the number, weight, expense, and maintenance requirements ofthe tools required for his or her task, and the time required for theperformance of the task. It may be inexpensively manufactured, and canbe distributed and used throughout the world.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific as to structural features. It is to beunderstood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specificfeatures shown, since the means and construction shown comprisepreferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is,therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within thelegitimate and valid scope of the appended claims, appropriatelyinterpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.

We claim:
 1. A blade for a garden tool, the blade comprising a generallydished region and a pointed tip having a tip point, the blade adapted toengage a handle having a handle axis at an end of the blade oppositefrom the tip point and the blade having a grip axis substantiallyparallel to the handle axis; wherein the tip point lies off the gripaxis by a distance sufficient to allow a user's hand and all of the toolexcept the tip point to clear a surface of the ground when the tool isheld in an inverted position with respect to the ground with the gripaxis substantially parallel to the ground and the tip point in contactwith the ground.
 2. The blade of claim 1, wherein the pointed tip isitself dished.
 3. The blade of claim 1, wherein the blade furthercomprises at least one serrated edge region.
 4. The blade of claim 3,wherein the serrated edge region is adjacent to the pointed tip.
 5. Ablade for a garden tool, the blade comprising a generally dished regionand a pointed tip having a tip point, the blade adapted to engage ahandle at an end of the blade opposite from the tip point and the bladehaving a grip axis; wherein the tip point lies off the grip axis by aclearance distance and wherein the pointed tip is dished to an extentwhereby, when the tool is held with the grip axis substantiallyvertically aligned and the handle end is held upward, the pointed tipcradles soil.
 6. A blade for a garden tool, the blade comprising agenerally dished region, the dished region having a base point, aperiphery, and a tip, the tip having a tip point also on the periphery,the blade further comprising a handle end and a handle having a gripaxis at an end of the blade generally opposite from the tip point, thebase point lying at an end of the dished region generally opposite thetip point but not on the handle end;wherein a substantial portion of theperiphery lies a sufficient distance above a tool reference planepassing through the tip point and the base point to allow a user's handand all of the tool except the tip to clear a surface of the ground whenthe tool is held in an inverted position with respect to the ground withthe grip axis substantially parallel to the ground and the tip point inpenetrating contact with the ground.
 7. The blade of claim 6, whereinthe tip itself is dished.
 8. The blade of claim 6, wherein the bladefurther comprises at least one serrated edge region.
 9. The blade ofclaim 8, wherein the serrated edge region is adjacent to the tip.